Climate change, and its potential impact on species distributions, has moved to the forefront of concerns among wildlife managers. Current speculation in Virginia centers on how species will respond to changing climate in the coming century. We used dynamically downscaled climate models to generate change scenarios in the mid and late 21st century. We used that information, along with available species occurrence information, to build predictive spatial models for a select group of species. Our results suggested that the impact of climate change will vary across the landscape. The resulting species distribution models provide information for wildlife managers on how climate changes may result in shifting distributions in Virginia. We also provide some basic suggestions to managers in using the information produced and in incorporating climate change into their decision making.

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Climate change, and its potential impact on species distributions, has moved to the forefront of concerns among wildlife managers. Current speculation in Virginia centers on how species will respond to changing climate in the coming century. We used dynamically downscaled climate models to generate change scenarios in the mid and late 21st century. We used that information, along with available species occurrence information, to build predictive spatial models for a select group of species. Our results suggested that the impact of climate change will vary across the landscape. The resulting species distribution models provide information for wildlife managers on how climate changes may result in shifting distributions in Virginia. We also provide some basic suggestions to managers in using the information produced and in incorporating climate change into their decision making.